Labour MPs distraught at the idea of Jeremy Corbyn as leader really should calm down. His programme is actually rather modest. They don’t seem to appreciate that some shift to the left by Labour is imperative for Britain’s very unity. The impetus towards Scottish separatism is grounded overwhelmingly on the narrative that Scots are social democratic whereas the English are neoliberal. Only by forging a new progressive movement in the UK can we obliterate this myth and save Britain as a country.
Professor Danny Nicol
London
• Tony Blair has explained carefully the political realities. If major figures like Michael Foot and Tony Benn could not persuade the cautious British electorate of the rightness of their proposals, what chance does a backbencher like Jeremy Corbyn have? Those of us who have lived through these past crises can only feel sorry for the young who have not learned reality the hard way. And feel even sorrier for the country doomed to years of Tory governments.
Maureen Green
Richmond, Surrey
• The shameful thing about Tony Blair’s prediction that a Corbyn victory will result in Labour’s annihilation is that it is obviously a self-fulfilling argument. The more senior Labour figures line up to denounce Corbyn as a disaster, the more his credibility will erode.
Steven Garside
Manchester
• As a Jeremy Corbyn supporter may I suggest that Peter Mandelson joins Tony Blair and Alastair Campbell in publicly condemning his campaign?
Bob Marshall-Andrews
Former Labour MP for Medway
• So climate change does not count as a big issue in your comparison of the candidates? Have you forgotten #keepitintheground already?
Martin Fowkes
Bourne End, Buckinghamshire
• Jeremy Corbyn says: “I don’t do personal, I don’t do reaction, I don’t do abuse.” Hooray! That should revolutionise prime minister’s questions. Corbyn gets my vote.
Anne Johns
Derby
• Your editorial (14 August) is wrong in stating that the quest for electability “must be front and centre in any major party’s mind”. Putting votes at the front of their thoughts is precisely what infuriates most people with most politicians. While it is important to consider what the people of the country want, the overriding responsibility of a political party is to promote the policies that it considers are right, which may or may not be what will get it elected.
Nigel Clayton
Truro, Cornwall
• We might remind ourselves that the Blair camp fought bitterly to prevent Ken Livingstone and Rhodri Morgan becoming candidates for London mayor and Welsh first minister, yet in due course both won elections and ran successful, popular administrations.
John Spencer
Cromhall, South Gloucestershire
• Why does it come as no surprise to me that the Guardian is giving its backing to the candidate with the most platitudes and fewest policies in their statement on page 29? (The Labour leadership: who’ll get your support?, 14 August)
Richard Wooller
Lydney, Gloucestershire
• Your profile (13 August) suggests Yvette Cooper has embraced the Lib Dem oxymoron “radical centre”. It didn’t do Nick Clegg – a far, far more able politician – a lot of good. Ms Cooper richly deserves a similar fate.
Jonathan Hunt
London
• The question is being asked as to where the support for Jeremy Corbyn is coming from. Could it not be from a significant proportion of the third of voters that did not bother to vote in the election, and who could not see any real difference between New Labour and the Tories?
Roger Munday
Hikurangi, Northland, New Zealand
• The handy spreadsheet of Labour leadership policies (14 August) says nothing about the one issue which could satisfy all Labour party voters: electoral reform. With Single Transferable Vote (STV) the Burnhamites, Cooperites, Corbynites and Kendallites could each form their own party without the electoral system threatening oblivion. The result could be a progressive coalition government, probably including the Liberal Democrats, with something for everyone.
Cllr Lucy Care
Derby city council
• As someone wishing for a fairer society but acutely aware of Jeremy Corbyn’s unelectability and the dire state of the Liberal Democrats, I am beginning to think the previously unthinkable. Perhaps joining the Conservative party and trying to ameliorate its policies from within may be the only realistic way to shift this country ever so slightly towards a fairer society.
Professor Colin Richards
Spark Bridge, Cumbria
